Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Prayer for the Lord’s Help.

A Song of Ascents.

Message at the Temple Gate

7 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, ² “^(A)Stand at the gate of the Lord’s house and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah, who enter by these gates to worship the Lord!’” ³ This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “^(B)Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you live in this place. ^4 (C)Do not trust in deceptive words, saying, ‘^[a]This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’ ⁵ For ^(D)if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly ^(E)practice justice between a person and his neighbor, ⁶ if you do not oppress the stranger, the ^[b](F)orphan, or the widow, and do not shed ^(G)innocent blood in this place, nor ^(H)follow other gods to your own ruin, ⁷ then I will let you ^(I)live in this place, in the ^(J)land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.

⁸ “Behold, you are trusting in ^(K)deceptive words to no avail. ⁹ Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, ^[c](L)offer sacrifices to Baal, and follow ^(M)other gods that you have not known, ¹⁰ then ^(N)come and stand before Me in ^(O)this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are saved!’—so that you may do all these abominations? ¹¹ Has ^(P)this house, which is called by My name, become a ^(Q)den of robbers in your sight? Behold, ^(R)I Myself have seen it,” declares the Lord.

¹² “But go now to My place which was in ^(S)Shiloh, where I ^(T)made My name dwell at the beginning, and ^(U)see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. ¹³ And now, because you have done all these things,” declares the Lord, “and I spoke to you, ^(V)speaking again and again, but you did not listen, and I ^(W)called you but you did not answer, ¹⁴ therefore I will do to the ^(X)house which is called by My name, ^(Y)in which you trust, and to the place which I gave you and your fathers, just as I ^(Z)did to Shiloh. ¹⁵ I will ^(AA)hurl you out of My sight, just as I have hurled out all your brothers, all the ^[d]descendants of ^(AB)Ephraim.

⁸ You are ^(A)already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you! ⁹ For I think, God has exhibited us, the apostles, last of all as men ^(B)condemned to death, because we ^(C)have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to mankind. ¹⁰ We are ^(D)fools on account of Christ, but ^(E)you are prudent in Christ! ^(F)We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are without honor! ¹¹ Up to this present hour we are both ^(G)hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed and roughly treated and homeless; ¹² and we labor, ^(H)working with our own hands; when we are ^(I)verbally abused, we bless; when we are ^(J)persecuted, we endure it; ¹³ when we are slandered, we ^[a]reply as friends; we have ^(K)become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.